No injuries in Lake Placid rollover; downed tree knocks out power (update)

April 23, 2012

LAKE PLACID - No one was hurt when a driver lost control and his Jeep Cherokee rolled over on Old Military Road this morning.

Meanwhile, parts of Lake Placid were without power for most of the morning as crews repaired a power line that was hit by a tree.

The crash happened at about 8:40 a.m. near the intersection of Mill Pond Drive and Old Military Road. The Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department responded with one truck and 11 members and conducted traffic control until the roadway could be cleared.

Upon arrival, firefighters found the 2001 Jeep Cherokee on its roof. The driver, Philip Gosvener, 53, of Saranac Lake, wasn't injured.

Ray Brook-based state police said Gosvener was driving too fast as he approached a downhill on Old Military Road and that he lost control of the Jeep and rolled into a ditch. Police said the vehicle sustained "quite a bit" of damage.

Don Hare of Lake Placid was on his way to work at the Enterprise, where he is a pressman, and he witnessed the crash as it happened.

"The driver was coming over the top of the hill too fast," Hare said. "He was airborne coming over the top of the hill, and I was able to get off to the side and miss him. I saw him in my rear-view as he continued down the hill. He caught an edge and ended up on his roof on the side of the road."

Hare said the road was wet but wasn't slushy or snowy, and he didn't think road conditions were too bad.

Police ticketed Gosvener for speeding.

In a separate incident, firefighters said Old Military Road, between Mill Pond Drive and Carolyn Road, was closed until shortly after noon so crews could clear the road of a downed tree that knocked out power to parts of Lake Placid for about three hours this morning.